Youth representatives of Youth Voice, a collaboration of several youth leadership groups of Fall River youth groups came together on March 19, 2009 to begin the process of crafting a Youth Bill of Rights for the City of Fall River modeled on a similar document from Portland, OR. Youth will be going to the statehouse in April to research the document and then present it to the Mayor and Fall River City Council for endorsement. The final event will include a special ceremony to sign the document on July 3, 2009. Participants in this first meeting included members the Peaceful Coalition, Team FRESH, PLOT, Teens Against Drugs and Alcohol, Making Proud Choices and YouthBuild. Youth Services Director Christian McCloskey, CD-REC Program Director Jamison Souza, Massachusetts Promise Fellow Brendan Sullivan and Peaceful Coalition staffer Ine Ogagan helped the group develop their ideas. For more information about the project contact Healthy Youth Task Force co-chairs  Christian McCloskey at 508-324-2419, or Jamison Souza at 508-679-0922. (Photos by Nicholas Farias)
 

(Top row, left) Team FRESH members Navie Choun, Mei Yu Fang, Jessica Wong and Linda Rim brainstorm ideas for action steps to help implement the Youth Bill of Rights. (Top row, center) Healthy Youth Task Force co-chair Jamison Souza helps the group craft the first draft of a Bill of Rights. (Top row, right) Zachariah Sonallah provides input as to how to develop the Articles. (Middle row, left) Mark DeMello and Peaceful Coalition members Jo Von Pemberton and Ronnie Chhot assist Bryan Carbajol in prioritizing action steps. (Middle row, right) Jasiel Correia II and PLOT member Nicholas Dumont vote on the first draft. (Bottom row, left) Jasiel Correia II presents the outline of the first draft of the Youth Bill of Rights to Mayor Robert Correia in the Fall River Room on the 6th floor of Government Center. (Bottom row, center) Mayor Correia endorses the process and encourages the youth to continue with the process. (Bottom row, right) Healthy City Fall River coordinator David S. Weed, Psy.D. applauds the youth for their work and invites them to the atrium for the Youth of the Year awards and youth group recognition.